Nique & Nate of Divine Hair Studios - Why NEPA?

Nique Williams was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre, where she grew up with her grandparents and attended the former G.A.R. Memorial Junior/Senior High School. Known around school as the go-to braider, she began styling hair at just 10 years old, even braiding her teachers’ hair before class. After high school, she attended Luzerne County Community College and went on to work in human services, including the Commission on Economic Opportunity and later at Genpact. When her grandfather became ill, she stepped away from work to care for him. During that time, she returned to the craft she had loved since childhood, enrolling at Jolie Academy in 2017 and earning her cosmetology license. Today, she specializes in braiding and shares tutorials on YouTube, where her channel has grown to almost 100,000 followers.

Nate Williams, known professionally as ConcisetheBarber, was born in Upper Darby and moved to NEPA when he was three. Growing up, he moved frequently with his mother and two sisters, spending time in Florida before eventually returning to Northeastern Pennsylvania and later relocating to Virginia. After attending Interboro High School outside Philadelphia, Nate briefly studied accounting at Bloomsburg University before completing his bachelor’s degree at Virginia State University. He went on to build a career in banking and finance, working for Wachovia and Wells Fargo and later at the College of William & Mary. After reconnecting with Monique, he returned to NEPA from Virginia more than a decade ago. Eventually leaving the corporate world behind, he pursued barbering through an apprenticeship under a master barber.

The two first met as children at Mount Zion Church before reconnecting years later. Married for more than a decade and raising their daughter, they opened Divine Hair Studios in Kingston in 2022.

We met them on Monique’s birthday at their well-appointed salon, where boho touches fill the space and Nate’s moody-blue barber suite offers a private experience. Before appointments, they shared their passion for creating jobs and making a community impact—and answered: Why NEPA?

How long have you lived in NEPA?

Nate: 14 years.

Monique: 39 today.

What do you love about your town?

Monique: We live in South Wilkes-Barre, and we love where we live.

Nate: I think it’s one of the best places to live. Love our neighbors. It’s quiet. It’s like the old days when you actually know everybody. Everybody knows everybody. Somebody hit our car one time, and our neighbor stopped the person and got their information.

Monique: From the day that we moved there, our neighbor across the street let us know off the rip, “We take care of each other down here. We look out for each other. If you ever need anything, you let us know.” And it wasn’t just an empty cliché. You know, we say that, “If you need anything, let me know.” He meant every word. We love our home. It’s just a really good neighborhood.

What’s your favorite NEPA restaurant?

Nate: My favorite NEPA restaurant was Shogun.

Monique: That was truly a staple for us, so I would definitely say that would be a favorite.

Nate: I got a few. I like CrisNics Irish Pub. It’s a good spot to go to. We always go to Thai Thai.

Monique: I like Shams Hot Chicken. I only went once, but I’m sold!

Nate: We didn’t say no pizza spots. I like Gerry’s and Angelo’s.

Monique: What is NEPA without pizza?

What’s your favorite thing to do in NEPA?

Nate: I love going to the movies. Cinemark, that’s my spot. They got my pretzel bites! Bowling: Chacko’s, hands-down. Their food!

Monique: I would go there just to eat!

Nate:  You can’t go wrong with Chacko’s, you know what I mean? We always work, but when we don’t work, we try to go to Shogun—and it’s not there! We go to the movies. I’m a movie-head.

Monique: And church at New Covenant Christian Fellowship Church.

What’s next for you?

Monique: One of our dreams is that when we created Divine Hair Studios, we chose that name because we felt like this was something divinely given to us. Yes, we had to work hard for it, but the way things fell into place wasn’t by our own strength or our own dollar amount. When we came up with Divine Hair Studios, we put an “S” on the end of studios because from the jump we always envisioned multiple locations—Divine Hair Studios Kingston, Divine Hair Studios Bloomsburg, Divine Hair Studios in another state. Our ultimate goal is to franchise this.

Nate: Yeah, that’s the ultimate goal!

Monique: It’s big. But one of my very good friends used to say that if you can achieve your dream by yourself, you’re not dreaming big enough. This isn’t even something he and I can do alone. The dream is educating staff, building up educated braiders and cosmetologists, and giving them real career paths.

Nate: Back their education. We’re not the type of owners that say once you come in here you’re stuck here. We want you to grow and build. If you think you can do your own salon, you can grab your own or you can operate something that’s ready and set.

Monique: We still have to take the steps. We’re still navigating this location, but long term, that’s definitely the goal.

Where do you see NEPA heading in the future?

Monique:  Being that I’ve been here for so long, I see the diversity of NEPA changing, which is a good thing. I see more opportunities. Even a business like this model 10 or 15 years ago—I don’t know if it could have survived in this area. Businesses are coming in. Look at how many hotels we have now. Look at how many banks are popping up. Something’s coming in from somewhere.

I also see community efforts taking place, even just the business connections on this street. You have Goldstein’s, Tirado’s, and the lawyer’s office across the street. If we need extra parking, we can ask and it’s no problem. The lawyer comes over and tells us how great we’re doing. It’s encouraging. It’s one of those things we all share, and I see the area continuing on that trajectory.

Nate: I think business is booming. People from places like New York and New Jersey are coming here. When you see stores like Wawa, Jersey Mike’s and Starbucks popping up, then it’s like, okay—the right people are looking at things and deciding to place their businesses here. People are coming in, businesses are taking notice, and they’re putting the right businesses here. Now, if they can put a Chick-fil-A at this corner right here!

Why NEPA?

Nate: Because of her! To be honest, I always tell everybody who opens a business that this is a great place to start, grow and really figure out how to operate. It’s small enough, but also impactful enough for you to build something. NEPA offers that. It gives you a launchpad. I really feel like this is a great start for anybody who wants to jumpstart something.

Monique: Because it’s home. But I have to agree with Nate as well. This area is a place where, if you need that restart or jumpstart, it’s quiet enough that you can zone in. There’s not so much going on that you can’t nestle in and really figure out your plan and what you’re going to do. I think it’s the perfect place to do that and then grow and spread your wings.

Nate: It gives you room to serve. That’s what I feel like NEPA does. It’s welcoming to those who want to serve the community. That’s what NEPA stands for to me.